Manifest creator pitching a movie ending, admits it's "confusing" that it remains No. 1 on Netflix

Entertainment Weekly

Jeff Rake had always planned for a six-season run for Manifest. But with Netflix opting not to pick up a third season following NBC's cancelation, "I'm reading the writing on the wall that we may not find a home for three more seasons of the show, so I moved to plan B: Some platform would bankroll a feature or a movie finale, like we saw with Timeless, Firefly, and Deadwood," he tells EW. "I just need a modest budget to tell the story. I am personally sketching out how to consolidate the back half of the series into a much more streamlined, cut-to-the-chase two-hour finale that would distill all of the hanging chads of the series. That's where my head is at. There is a huge appetite for people wanting to know what's that end of the story, what happened to the passengers, what ultimately happened to that airplane." Rake points out that Netflix turned down reviving Manifest "10 long days ago. Since then we remain at the top of Netflix's watch list. So I've encouraged Warner Bros. and my agents to continue conversations with Netflix, and anyone else for that matter, another platform who may be interested in stepping up. There's a lot of questions over whether Hulu would want to take over since season 3 of the show lives on Hulu… which is so confusing and complicated for the new fans to comprehend. Like, how challenging it is to be a consumer out there, to binge the first two seasons on Netflix ... and think they've seen everything that there is to see? A lot of them didn't even realize that there's a third season sitting over on Hulu. It's so crazy and convoluted. Fans are also hearing the show is incomplete and remains incomplete. I take that as a positive sign." Rake also agrees that it's confusing that Manifest continues to thrive as the No. 1 show on Netflix, even today. "How strange for a show to seemingly be at the end of its rope and then suddenly it's the No. 1 series on Netflix for, I think it's 20 days in a row," he says. "I was well on my way through the stages of grief to process the premature ending of the story. Now I am basking in the rebirth of the show."